Indians and Indian companies looking to buy or rent property abroad will soon have a four-million-strong international listing of real estate options to choose from via 99acres.com, a property portal launched by Info Edge (India) Ltd which plans to team up with Properazzi.com, part of Properazzi European Group SL.
This strategic partnership will allow users of both these portals to access bothreal estate databases and listings for buying, selling and renting both commercial and residential properties.
99acres, which was launced in 2005, says it has some 1,500 builders, 20,000 brokers and 40,000 individuals listing on the site, with some 200,000 residential and commercial properties from around 100 cities for sale.
Properrazzi hosts some four million properties across 49 countries.
“In the past few months, we have received requests...for buying or renting property in places such as Dubai, the UK, particularly London, Malaysia, Singapore and even some parts of US. Besides, NRIs are also increasingly investing in property in Gurgaon, Bangalore, Kochi, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai. This tie-up will help us leverage both these customers,” said Hitesh Oberoi, chief operating officer of Info Edge.
As for foreigners using Indian websites to buy properties, some analysts say that because the real estate market is fragmented and riddled with cumbersome paperwork, difficult norms and non-trasparency, the task could be challenging.
Still, “if portals, such as 99acres, are able to provide clarity to users on processes and paperwork, create awareness and transparency, it will only grow the market and allow users to increase their access in markets new to them,” said Abhishek Gupta, senior manager, research and strategic consulting, at real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.
This international partnership is part of 99acres expansion strategy to be a one-stop property shop for its users. In the next three-four months, the company will expand to 25 cities from 11. It is looking at tying up with firms offering moving services, insurance and interior decoration services as well.
“99acres is currently growing at over 100% and we will continue with this growth in the future. In the next one year, we plan to invest $3-5 million on our expansion,” Oberoi said.
Revenues come in from the fees that the brokers and builders are charged for listing their property on the website. For individual users, the service is free unless they want value-added services such as alerts, which come for Rs 500 per listing. For brokers, it is Rs15,000 for 300 listings in a year, while for builders, the fees range from Rs15,000 up to Rs40 lakh.
Info Edge posted revenues of Rs147 crore through the year ended March, with the marriage portal Jeevansathi.com and 99acres.com together contributing around 7%